Shipping Charges

You need to think about the various shipping charges when delivering internationally. We can help you with this.

If you are going to be sending something to an international location, whether that thing is a letter or a parcel, you are going to need to think about shipping charges as these could be a serious cost depending on what you are sending and where. The price of how much it will cost you to send something through international shipping normally depends on three factors: first of all, how far it is going to travel; secondly, how much the package or letter weighs; and thirdly, how big it is in terms of dimensions. You can also add to the cost yourself by selecting things such as insurance on the contents of the parcel, insurance on it getting to its chosen location on time, recorded delivery, and special extras such as those.

If you are running a business or working for a larger business which is going to need to send out a lot of things on a regular basis, particularly if you are dealing with parcels and sending them on an international scale, then you really need to think about shipping charges as if you do not take them into account you could end up being shocked by exactly how much you end up spending on them. After all, when you are shipping goods that you have sold, if you do not charge the shipping to the customer then you are treading a very fine line as paying too much for the delivery could seriously cut into your profit margins and leave you with a lower return than you expected on something that was worth far more than you managed to get for it. This is a common problem for start up businesses or those who are starting to ship for the first time, so you absolutely need to make sure that you get this right from the start in order to avoid any unwanted or unnecessary charges. You need to know how much it is all going to cost you before you even think about offering the shipping service to the person who would be waiting for the parcel, and it is also important that you do your research in this sector so that you know whether or not you are getting a fair price for the service that you receive. You can look around at different companies who offer the same kinds of services and see what they would all charge you – and do not be afraid to ask for quotes from courier companies, as you can often find that if their prices are too high you can either get them to come down a little bit, or realise that a different company is so much cheaper than them that you ought to go with that second option anyway.

Once you have a handle on what your shipping charges will be, you need to think about whether or not you are going to be sending parcels on a regular basis. If you are then you might just be in luck, as those who send a lot of parcels through the same courier service can often expect to get some kind of discount from the company as a reward for being such a loyal customer, and because the company will be very keen to keep you on board as the kind of person that gives them a lot of business. They will make sure to give you a discount if you make bulk orders, and they may even allow you to earn loyalty points which can then be traded in later on for a discount on certain orders or to earn an upgrade to your membership status which allows you to enjoy lower prices for deliveries across the board. They can also set up extra services for you – for example, you might want to organise a pick up every single Monday so that the courier comes and takes all of the parcels that you have organised to be sent during the week and takes them all away at once, or if you are really doing a lot of high volume shipping you may even want them to come every single day of the week in order to pick things up and get them on their way. These are all extra services which you can expect to enjoy when you start to send a higher volume of parcels, since after all anyone who spends more at that kind of company can expect to be rewarded and given a reason to come back and use the service again the next time that they need something to be delivered.

Aside from this, you will not really find that there are any differences in shipping charges such as promotions that run for a short time or drives to get more people shipping, because frankly this is an industry which is very much necessary and which a lot of people use on a regular enough basis that they do not need to try and get more business by offering discounts during slower times – because there are no slower times. You may even find that charges are slightly higher at peak times, such as at Christmas, because it is more difficult to make deliveries to the same standards at those times.

Whatever happens, our advice is always to work out your shipping charges before anything else – even before you work out how much you will charge your clients for your products. One important thing to think about is that if the cost of a courier would perhaps make your shipping costs appear to be top high, then you can always make the cost to the client lower but raise the price of your product in order to compensate. This will make them feel as though they are getting a better deal, without leaving you out of pocket – though if neither option appeals to you, then you could also cover the cost of delivery yourself in order to keep your clients happier and convince them to buy.